The group Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has produced its latest annual study of ways to cut pork barrel spending and says taxpayers could save $1.2 trillion through judicious spending cuts which wouldn't greatly affect government services.

Here are a few highlights:

• The Department of Agriculture could halve the number of its field offices -- from the present 2,700 to 1,350 -- by greater reliance on the phone and the Internet for a savings of $2.5 billion over five years.

• Ending the Export Enhancement Program -- which subsidizes big corporation in the export of farm commodities -- would save taxpayers $2.2 billion over five years.

• The Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration -- which is supposed to help poor areas of the country, but actually hands out money to some of the country's wealthiest and economically healthiest areas -- could be eliminated for a savings of $1 billion over five years.

• Savings of some $591 million could be realized over five years by canceling Commerce's Advanced Technology Program -- which pays large firms to conduct the kind of research they would probably do anyway.

Then the Pentagon could save $10 billion over five years if Congress would allow it to close superfluous military bases and other facilities.

Privatizing the Energy Department's four Power Marketing Administrations would save $18 billion -- with another $2.5 billion realized by getting rid of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Then CAGW identified $1 billion of waste at the Environmental Protection Agency -- which hands out grants to nonprofit groups, which turn around and use the money to lobby for EPA programs.

Source: Macroscope, "Cutting the Waste," Investor's Business Daily, July 14, 1999.

For CAGW text http://www.cagw.org/publications
/prime/pubs.primecust.home.htm